


A Single Touch

by modorenai



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:36:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4771952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/modorenai/pseuds/modorenai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A single touch from Tatara is all it takes for Mikoto to calm down. But he wants to touch and be touched so many more times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Continuing my trend of somehow only being able to write fics at insane hours, it's almost 5 a.m. and I've finally finished the prologue of my MikoTata fic which I've been agonising over for over two years. >_>
> 
> Please excuse any bad writing - this prologue has been giving me the most trouble out of all my planned chapters and I'm sure the lack of sleep is not doing any wonders for my brain either.
> 
> Here's to hoping that the subsequent chapters prove to be slightly less painful to churn out. *crosses fingers and prays hard*

He was being consumed by the fire.

Fiery flames blazed all around him, licking hungrily at his feet and tugging impatiently at his elbows and pulling insistently at his sleeves. Tendrils of fire snaked their way up the legs of his chair and coiled themselves around his armrest, whirling upwards into a dizzying tornado of flames that threatened to devour every last inch of him.

But no, that wasn't quite right. The fire wasn't seeking to consume him from the outside in.

Instead, the fire was pouring out from within him, an incessant flood of flames that threatened to sweep away and drown everything that surrounded him. The core of lava that lay pooled deep within him roiled and heaved with every breath he took as he struggled to force the flames back down, gritting his teeth as they burned their mark into his very cells.

 _Destroy_ , the flames whispered seductively, wrapping themselves even more tightly around him. _BURN_!

He clenched his fists. The pain was getting too much to bear. Briefly, the thought of giving up flitted across his mind. He should stop fighting it, he should just cave in, he should just lose himself to the flames, to let himself and everything around him disappear...

 _Yes_ , the flames giggled in glee, _yes lose yourself to us, stop fighting us, just let yourself and everything around you disappear in a sea of flames!_

But then faintly, somewhere through the heat filled haze that was numbing his senses, he heard a softly uttered, 'King.'

He raised his eyes blearily in the direction of the voice. As his eyes slowly focused on the wavering images before him, the figure of a man suddenly snapped into existence, and he found himself looking at Totsuka.

He could see the fear in the other man's eyes. 

The corner of his mouth twisted into a wry smile.

 _I'm not a King,_ he thought. **_I'm a monster._**

He had barely finished the thought when he felt the flames within him stir harder with excitement, eager to turn their attention to the new target before them.

 _Burn, burn,_ they urged, _burn all who fear you to ashes, they are weak, they should be purged, burn them all!_

'Stay back.' Mikoto growled at Totsuka through clenched teeth. 'Stay back or you'll get hurt. Sweat beaded his forehead as he strained to rein in the flames, but he could feel them slowly slipping from his control....

Suddenly, a gust of cool air brushed past his cheek. Startled, he looked up at the other man. The look of pure fear Totsuka's face was gone, replaced instead with a gentle smile. Mikoto's eyes widened.

'It's all right, King. You won't hurt me.'

Mikoto could feel his flames quiver slightly at the soothing, quietly confident tone of Totsuka's voice. But before Mikoto could even feel puzzled over the shift, he felt rather than saw the fist whizz towards him and reflexively, before he could help himself, he had shot out his hand to stop the incoming blow.

 _'No!'_ His mind shouted at him. _Don't touch him or you'll burn him!_

 _Burn him!_ cackled the flames, reaching forward gleefully towards Totsuka. _Burn them all!_

_No!_

Before he could stop himself and pull his hand back, Totsuka's incoming fist hit the palm of his hand with a tiny whump. Something small and cool trickled from Totsuka's fist to his palm, mixing and mingling with the flames contained within him.

And then, with a soft puff of warm air, his flames went out.

Mikoto stared at Tatara in shock. He could still feel the flames whispering within him, but their voices were no longer an angry buzz hammering away from within him. Instead, it felt like his flames were curling gently around the faint cool spark flowing from Tatara, almost like an affectionate cat rubbing his cheek fondly against his owner's ankle.

Mikoto blinked, and really LOOKED at Tatara this time.

Tatara beamed at him. 'It's fine, it's fine. I told you it'll all work out somehow.'

++++++

_The lion roared. He paced restlessly up and down his cage, looking for any openings or chinks that might help to secure his freedom. He would go mad if he continued to be confined here any longer._

_Suddenly, there was flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. The lion lunged forward, only to be repelled back by the bars of his cage. The metal bars made a loud ringing sound as they trembled and shook, but held their ground. The lion shook his head to clear it and then roared again, this time directing the full brunt of his anger and displeasure towards the cause of his disappointment._

_Wide eyes looked back at him in shock. It was a human._

_He drew his lips back into a snarl and bared his teeth at the intruder, his dissatisfaction growing deep within his belly._

_A pause. Then, to his surprise, a smile suddenly bloomed across the face of the human in front of him. Befuddled, the lion stared back silently._

_A voice cut through the air from afar, and the smiling face turned towards it._

_'Don't get so close to him! That beast is dangerous, he can tear your throat out in a second!'_

_'I can't help it! He's just so majestic, I couldn't resist wanting to take a closer look at him. He's just like a King! That's right, I'll call him King! Nice to meet you, King!'_

_The Lion stared back at the beaming face in confusion. It wouldn't be the last time he would do that._


	2. Chapter 1

Suoh Mikoto had always believed himself to be a man of no regrets. He did whatever the hell he wanted to do however the hell he wanted to do it, and god have mercy on all those who got in his way while he was doing it. Once Suoh Mikoto embarked on a game plan, he never looked back. Ever.

But if there was one thing Suoh Mikoto regretted now, it was the event that had occurred over three months ago, when the Dresden Slate had beckoned to him with its alluring song of power and he had unhesitatingly answered it. If Mikoto ever once had the fleeting thought that his flames would come to heel and behave permanently after the incident, he had now been proven dead wrong. He had spent many a day holed up in the room on the second floor of Bar HOMRA, struggling just to sit upright while the flames raged violently within him as they tried to seize control of his body. It had gotten so bad that Kusanagi had even taken to bringing Mikoto's meals up to his room which he never took a foot out of, because even the slightest movement could break his concentration and cause his flames to escape and run wild. Not a day went by when he didn't need Tatara's presence to calm him down, and on bad days Totsuka even had to calm him down more than once.

It was finally the nth day after accepting the Dresden Slate's promise of power (Mikoto hadn't bothered keeping count of the exact number of days since then - who could, in that state?) when Mikoto managed to gather enough strength to control his flames long enough to stumble down the stairs and flop down ungracefully onto the sofa in the bar. He was rewarded for his effort by a brilliant smile from Totsuka ("See King? I told you it'll all work out somehow!") and a pleased nod in his direction from Kusanagi. In his bleary semi-comatose state, he heard Kusanagi mumble something about needing to step out for a while to settle some accounts, followed by some affirmative murmurings from Totsuka before he heard the sound of the front door being opened and shut.

As Mikoto lay sprawled on his back on the sofa, taking in big ragged gasps of air but trying vainly not to show it, a cool hand suddenly touched his forehead.

"King, are you feeling all right?" Totsuka's soft voice filtered through the loud roaring in his ears.

"... Do I look all right to you?" Mikoto grunted sourly, barely mustering up enough strength to shoot Totsuka a dirty look. His glare that would have sent any hardened yakuza scrambling for his life was simply met with an amused laugh.

"Absolutely ravishing." Totsuka teased with a grin. The hand on Mikoto's forehead shifted to curl its fingers playfully in his decidedly shaggy hair - more than three months of neglect had led to Mikoto's already long fringe growing into something that resembled a lion's mane. "Especially with your beautifully flowing long and luscious locks, complemented by your oh-so-rugged and manly stubble - the perfect juxtaposition of the modern sensitive new age guy with the traditional masculine muscle man," Tatara added impishly, twirling a few strands of Mikoto's hair around his finger.

"Look who's talking," Mikoto grumbled back, waving a hand lethargically at the short ponytail that rested at the nape of Totsuka's neck. He would have swatted Totsuka's hand away if he had the strength to do so but even that was a feat that was beyond him at the moment.

"Oh, you noticed? I thought I'd try a new look, feminine looking guys are all the rage now," Totsuka joked, still fiddling with Mikoto's hair like a curious kitten fascinated with a new ball of yarn. Mikoto snorted at Totsuka's flippant remark, but he knew the other man wasn't being entirely honest - having had Totsuka stay by his side the whole past month to keep his flames in check also meant that Totsuka had barely been able to leave the bar himself except for the occasional trip back to his apartment to get a fresh change of clothes whenever Kusanagi was too tied up to do it for him, which meant that Totsuka probably hadn't had the time to look after his own appearance himself. They couldn't risk letting Mikoto's powers flare out of control even once - not if they didn't want to come back to a pile of charred cinders in the place of a bar.

Mikoto had closed his eyes and was beginning to enjoy the soothing feeling of Totsuka playing with his hair when the words "I guess it's time for a haircut." suddenly tumbled from above.

Mikoto cracked open an eye and peered up incredulously at the face beaming down on him. "You think I'm going to be able to step out of the bar to take a trip down to the barber's in this state?" He hated admitting when he was feeling weak, but he'd be damned if let Totsuka drag him outdoors when he could barely stand on his own two feet without resisting the urge to plant his face firmly on the floor.

Totsuka's smile simply widened in answer as he silently picked up a book which had been lying atop the coffee table next to the sofa and waved it in Mikoto's face. Mikoto felt an ominous sense of foreboding run down his spine as he struggled to make out the title on the cover of the book.

_Gentleman's Grooming 101: You can be a Master Barber too in Ten Easy Steps!_

Mikoto groaned.

\--------------------------------------

The hairdressing session had gone much more smoothly than Mikoto had anticipated, even if he was now sporting a bizarre haircut that had two random strands of hair hanging down his forehead like feelers. Mikoto vaguely recalled Totsuka babbling on about how the feelers were supposed to be some sort of secret weapon that would allow Mikoto to detect enemies and zap them with lasers, and had briefly contemplated rewarding Totsuka for his creativity with a well-deserved punch in the gut, but after awhile he had decided to just tune out and let Totsuka do whatever the hell he wanted. Mikoto had long since given up trying to resist whenever Totsuka was in one of his unstoppable experimental moods - one simply did not say no to Totsuka Tatara unless one wanted to be subject to incessant begging and pleading and cajoling and wheedling that would be enough to drive any sane person out of his mind.

Mikoto wasn't the only one sporting a new hairdo though - Kusanagi had returned from what he had called his 'errand running' and, upon seeing the havoc Totsuka had wrecked upon Mikoto's hair ("It's not havoc," Totsuka had protested, "It's haute couture!"), had taken it upon himself to apply his own hairdressing skills to Totsuka's unruly mop. When Mikoto and Totsuka curiously asked Kusanagi where he had even picked up his hairdressing skills in the first place, Kusanagi had turned pink and mumbled something about 'Aunt' and 'part time job' and 'dog grooming' before picking up the scissors and brandishing it threateningly at Mikoto and Tatara and warning the two that they had better stop laughing unless... **_snip snip_**. Mikoto and Totsuka promptly stopped wiping tears of laughter from their eyes and sat down meekly on the sofa -  one simply did not mess with Kusanagi Izumo unless... no, the outcome was too horrible to even imagine.

It was precisely Kusanagi's fearsomeness that had kept them safe even while Mikoto was holed up in his room learning to control his newfound powers. It was common knowledge that Mikoto had a knack for attracting trouble despite the fact that he wasn't the type to go around looking for it (or so he believed - Kusanagi had rudely snorted at him when he once tried to state as much). Said trouble often came in the form of various hooligans looking to challenge the man rumoured to be the strongest man in all of Shizume City's underworld, in a battle to the death (or almost death) to prove just exactly who deserved the title of strongest.

Mikoto didn't care much about the unofficial title that had been bestowed upon him, but he did care very much about the safety of himself and his two best friends. Thanks to this, he and Kusanagi had long since honed their fighting skills as they continued their unabated winning streak against those who were foolish enough to challenge them to a fight. As for Totsuka, who had never managed to master the art of fighting despite many frustrated attempts to teach him by Mikoto and Kusanagi... the two had long since given up on trying to cure Totsuka's severe lack of self-preservation skills, and considered him lucky to even be alive. Kusanagi had once wondered aloud if Totsuka had become attached to King simply because he had some sort of natural homing instinct that enabled him to zone in on Mikoto as being the strongest person most suited to providing protection to a weakling like Totsuka, much like a remora fish attaching itself to a shark.  (That said, both Kusanagi and Mikoto never ceased to be amazed at Totsuka's seemingly special ability to trip over absolutely nothing but his own two feet while running away from trouble, and, whilst in the midst of an apparent act of faceplanting towards the floor, somehow managing to twist his body around at the very last moment to lend gracefully on his bottom with a delicate "Ouch!". It happened so often that they had come to refer to it as the patented 'Totsuka Trip & Twist'. Highly recommended for appearing like a sparkling shoujo manga heroine in distress, but utterly useless when attempting to flee from their pursuers.)

So the fact that Kusanagi had returned today from running his 'errands' with slightly mussed hair, a rumpled tie and a few red splotches on his normally impeccably white sleeves didn't escape Mikoto's notice. The news that the Dresden Slate had recently selected Mikoto as the new Red King had spread like wildfire all over Shizume City, and along with it were also rumours that the said new Red King had gone into hiding in Bar HOMRA and was refusing to come out because he had problems controlling his newfound powers.  This had led to a surge in the number of low lives popping out of the woodwork and attempting to target Bar HOMRA while  the Red King was supposedly at his weakest and most vulnerable, in hopes that they could defeat him and effectively take over the reins of ruling over the other unruly inhabitants of Shizume City's underworld.

Considering how many of these low lives had already tasted defeat at the hands of Mikoto and Kusanagi at least once in the past, it could be said that they weren't exactly known for their intelligence in attempting to challenge them again. Even if Kusanagi was on his own this time since Mikoto was tied up battling his own demons in his room in the bar, Mikoto knew that Kusanagi could more than take care of himself. In fact, Mikoto pitied the poor losers who had crossed Kusanagi, having often been on the receiving end of Kusanagi's wrath himself.

Caught up in his own musings, Mikoto finally noticed that he was alone in the bar - Totsuka had stepped out for a bit to take out the trash after sweeping up their hair clippings, and Kusanagi had retired upstairs to straighten up, leaving Mikoto to his own devices.

The bar was too quiet - without the sound of Totsuka and Kusanagi's familiar voices to mask the crackling whispers of the flames within him, Mikoto felt oddly unsettled. Grunting, he rolled over and tried to go to sleep.

++++++++++

_The lion had long since forgotten what it felt like to have a peaceful night's rest. Every night the steel bars of his cage seemed to press down upon him, trapping him into place and choking him. He tossed fitfully in his sleep, claws raking against the floor as he tried to shake off the pressure from the intangible chains binding him against his will._

_He heard a faint rustling sound at the side of the cage. Eyes snapping open, he sprang up into a low crouch, a growl rumbling deep in his throat as he whipped around to face the source of this new menace._

_The eyes that met his were the same eyes that had gazed at him the day before. The human they belonged to stared at him thoughtfully for a few moments, before his face crinkled once again into a smile._

_"Oh, did I wake you? Sorry about that, I was making my rounds and noticed that you didn't seem to be sleeping well so I thought I'd come by and take a look to see what's wrong. That's my job you know, they hired me to look after all of you to make sure that everyone's doing well! I just started work yesterday - well you probably know that since we've already met! I do wish I had more time to get better acquainted with you yesterday, but I was just so busy, there never seems to be an end to the number of things to do here! I've been running around all over the place today just trying to learn the ropes, it's been such a challenge! But it's also been really fun because I've been learning lots of new things and meeting lots of new people and that's always so exciting don't you agree? Life would be so boring if we were stuck doing the same old things every day...'"_

_The lion blinked slowly in confusion at this strange man._ _He was used to people screaming while running away from him in terror, or jeering loudly at him while they mockingly rattled the bars of his cage. What he wasn't used to was someone smiling at him and chattering away to him happily as if he were an old friend that they hadn't seen in ages._

_Dazed, the lion slowly laid back down on the floor of his cage, body still tense and ready to spring up again at a moment's notice if the man decided to try something funny. He placed his head on top of his paws and pretended to go back to sleep, occasionally peeking out warily at the man out of the corner of his eye as the man continued to ramble on incessantly._

_The sound of the man's chatter was strangely soothing. Although the lion tried to ignore the steady stream of words coming out of the man's mouth, every so often the man would say something especially funny and the lion would find his ear twitching slightly in amusement, despite his attempts to appear like he was ignoring the man. The man seemed pleased every time this happened, and would resume his conversation with renewed vigour. As the man continued to natter on, the lion could feel his body gradually relaxing more and more as the stream of words slowed down into a trickle. Eyes drooping, he felt his consciousness slowly drifting away..._

_That night, the lion slept a deep sleep free of dreams._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg finally the first chapter is done! So much for thinking everything would be smooth sailing after the prologue, this chapter has gone through so many revisions that it no longer resembles the original draft I was planning. >_>
> 
> Anyway for those interested, the hairdressing scene was based on this [adorable short story written by Pink-sama](http://chilly-territory.tumblr.com/post/51789092599/k-guide-book-vol3-kingdom-by-raikaku-rei), while the joke about the Totsuka Trip & Twist was based on the silly scene in Stray Dog Story/Memory of Red where Totsuka falls beautifully while fleeing from his pursuers. I couldn't resist adding references to those two scenes and one thing led to another until it somehow ballooned into this frivolous chapter. The next chapter will hopefully have more substance, please bear with me until then! *bows*


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anddddd Chapter 2 is done as well! Next chapter will FINALLY be when I get to the actual point of this fic instead of floundering around aimlessly in pointless prose, ahaha. ^_^;;
> 
> Oh and if anyone was wondering about my choice of names for our lovely trio - since this fic is mostly from Mikoto's persepective, I've chosen to use his first name, and since he refers to Kusanagi and Totsuka by their last names, that's how I've referred to them as well. (YesIknowIthinktoomuchaboutuselessthingslikethisI'msorry)

 

It started, as most crazy things Mikoto ended up finding himself (unwillingly) dragged into, did. Namely, with a random suggestion from Tatara that appeared to have been plucked out of the blue from the depths of that confusing mass of harebrained ideas that served as what Tatara called his 'brain'.

Or more accurately, it began because it had been a particularly bad day for Mikoto, and he was sulking (brooding! Not sulking!) on the sofa in the bar because Kusanagi had thrown a fit when Mikoto had set a wine glass down on the bar counter and it had promptly melted down into a hardened mess of glass that refused to be removed no matter how hard Kusanagi scrubbed at it. Feeling guilty, Mikoto had tried to make amends by offering to use his flame to try to melt the lump of glass off, but his offer of peace had been rudely rebuffed by Kusanagi who had remarked rather caustically that he didn't need Mikoto making matters worse by setting the rest of the bar on fire as well. Kusanagi had then declared that Mikoto was banned from coming near the bar counter in the meantime, and had banished him to the sofa, demanding that he try to think of a way to cure his pyromaniac tendencies for good.

_Hypocrite_ , thought Mikoto sourly as he ~~sulkily~~ reflected on his misdeed while watching Kusanagi fuss over the bar counter. It irked Mikoto that he couldn't completely deny that it was indeed still a possibility that he could burn the whole bar down by accident, but he privately felt it was unfair of Kusanagi to make such remarks considering that it had only been yesterday that marked a full week of Kusanagi not setting anything on fire himself and when they'd finally declared that Kusanagi was safe and no longer a walking fire hazard. Although Kusanagi didn't have it quite as bad and his mishaps were never quite as drastic as Mikoto's, he had still struggled for days on end to control his powers when he had first received his flame. Occasionally there would be random _whumps_ and muffled curses as Kusanagi accidentally set something on fire with his bare hands or a mere puff of breath. The worst had been when he had set his bar counter on fire - he had spent days weeping afterwards every time he caught a glimpse of its charred remains, until one day by a stroke of luck, he had been flipping through a travel magazine when he had come across an article on pubs in England, and had spotted the perfect bar counter of his dreams. He had immediately hopped on the next available flight to England to ~~arm-twist~~ convince the pub owner into telling him where he had bought the bar counter, and had returned to Japan a much happier man and one bar counter richer. After installing the new counter in the bar, Kusanagi had cheered up visibly, whistling every time he wiped it down and running his fingers lovingly across its surface from time to time. Mikoto found this disgusting and had grumbled as much to Kusanagi, but Kusanagi had simply flipped him the finger and ignored him as he continued swooning over the new love of his life.

Eventually, through much trial and error, both Mikoto and Kusanagi had found that smoking (of all things) actually helped them to control their powers better. After this discovery, Totsuka had bought them both matching silver lighters, theorising that concentrating their powers on a tangible object probably helped them to control the strength and form of their flames more easily. ("It's like, y'know, having to focus your magical powers on a wand in order to cast spells! That's what I read in some book awhile back anyway. It was about some boy with alot of facial hair who made clay bowls for a living I think.") Indeed, after a few weeks of regular practice with his lighter, Kusanagi had managed to exert enough control over his flames that they no longer burst out in uncontrolled explosions when he tried to use them (or even when he wasn't trying to use them), and had developed a technique of using the ashes of a lit up cigarette to create fireballs with missile-like homing instincts, along with a whip of fire that cracked forth menacingly from his lighter. Mikoto, however, had stubbornly refused to use his lighter because he said it was disgusting to have matching lighters with another guy, and insisted on attempting to control his flames his own way despite numerous threats from Kusanagi and constant coaxing from Tatara. Eventually, through sheer force of will, he finally seized enough control over his flame that he could use it to light up his cigarette without burning his face off. (The first time he had attempted to show off to Kusanagi and Totsuka though, his controlled flame had lasted all of a triumphant 2 seconds before it had blown up in his face and Mikoto had ended up singeing his feelers. He had retired to his room for the rest of the day to ~~sulk~~ rest, although it didn't help that Kusanagi and Totsuka were very obviously trying to stifle their giggles every time they went up to check on him.)

Compared to the other two, Totsuka's flame was so weak that he never even felt the need to get a lighter for himself. As compensation for the weakness of his flame, he had such immense control over it that he could use it to create all sorts of intricate shapes and forms on whim. Totsuka hardly had to practice much before he was able to shape his flames into brilliant butterflies that fluttered and danced in the air just like real ones when he let them loose in the bar. Kusanagi and Mikoto had watched in amusement as one of the butterflies had flown past them and had brushed its wings delicately against the ends of the cigarettes in their mouths, lighting them up. Mikoto had at that moment felt a brief pang of envy - for despite the raw power of his flame, it was precisely because of its destructive force that it was impossible for him to match the level of delicacy and skill that Totsuka exercised over his flame.

It was in fact thanks to Totsuka's laser accurate control over his flame that it had now fallen to him to use said flame to carefully shave away the glass mess encrusted on the bar top. However, the downside to Totsuka's mastery of his flame was that using it even for a short period of time exhausted him. Progress had therefore been slow because not only did he have to concentrate his flame at a heat high enough to melt the glass, he also had to ensure that his flame held steady because even the slightest shiver could lead to him singeing the surface of the bar (and the consequences of _that_ happening were too scary to even imagine - Totsuka shuddered as he imagined Kusanagi cracking his knuckles threateningly at him). The level of intense concentration that was required took a massive toll on his body, and he had to keep taking constant breaks to recover his energy before resuming his work again. It was almost three hours later when Totsuka finally completed his task and flopped down next to Mikoto in an exhausted heap.

It was there when Mikoto was ~~sulking repenting guiltily~~  lounging on the sofa and Totsuka was taking a breather next to him that Totsuka's face suddenly lit up with a mischievous grin, and he turned to face Mikoto. Mikoto looked back at him warily. The expression on Totsuka's face was the one that he always made before coming up with all sorts of ridiculous schemes which typically ended up with Mikoto being dragged into doing something stupid against his will and with Totsuka nursing a sore head after being reprimanded severely by Kusanagi and/or Mikoto.

"King," Tatara says brightly, and Mikoto continued to look at him guardedly because in his opinion, nothing good had ever come out of Tatara calling him King. 

"Kinggggg~~~~~~~" Tatara drawls the word out further, and Mikoto is quite sure Tatara is doing this on purpose. "... Why don't we test how strong my calming effect is?"

++++++++++

_The lion soon learnt that the name of the one who called him 'King' was named 'Beastmaster'. He had no idea what that name even meant, but it seemed to have something to do with the fact that most of the animals in the circus flocked to the Beastmaster eagerly like puppies running to their owner with their tails wagging in earnest. The weather today was good, and the Beastmaster sat in the sun in a spot not far off from the lion's cage, surrounded by a circle of what he had christened his 'friends', chattering to them non-stop as everyone seemed to lap up his every word._

_Well, almost everyone. A monkey sat sulkily a few metres away from the Beastmaster with his back turned towards him, seemingly disinterested in the stories that the Beastmaster was telling to the rest of the circle around him. Yet the lion noticed with lazy amusement that the monkey never moved completely away, its head occasionally seeming to turn towards the direction of the Beastmaster's voice before hastily snapping back whenever the Beastmaster looked in its direction. A crow with gleaming black feathers circled excitedly around the Beastmaster's head, cawing loudly enough to give the lion a headache. But the Beastmaster always seemed to listen indulgently to the crow, and from time to time, when the monkey would swat at the crow and the crow would retaliate by attempting to peck the monkey's eyeballs out, he would patiently pull them apart with a gentle admonishment for them not to fight since they were friends._

_The lion snorted at those words and rolled over in his cage, turning his own back to the Beastmaster as he pretended to go to sleep. He didn't understand this concept of "friends"._

 


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the incredibly long wait! Real life has not been kind to my chronic writer's block. >_>
> 
> But rest assured that I haven't given up on this work - I do intend to see it through to the end, although updates may continue to be sporadic. I'll try my best not to let the next chapter take as long as this one has though. >_

**Chapter** **3**

 

Mikoto stared at Totsuka who was beaming happily up at him from his perch. "What," he asked slowly, like one might to a child who didn't seem to understand no matter how many times he was told,  "Just _what_ are you doing on my bed?"

 "Oh come on King! You agreed to it just now, didn't you?" Totsuka looked brightly up at him like an eager puppy who had jumped onto his master's bed as if he owned it and was thoroughly unrepentant as it wagged its tail back and forth in delight.

 "I didn't agree to anything......" Mikoto began, but then trailed off and stopped as soon as it became clear that Totsuka wasn't listening to him and was more preoccupied with arranging the sheets and pillows on the bed like aforesaid puppy nestling down to sleep.

 "What are you standing around for, King? Hurry up and come over!"

Giving things up for a lost cause, Mikoto let out a heavy sigh (which went ignored by Totsuka of course) and grudgingly did as he was told. He had learnt from cold hard experience that sometimes (most of the time) it was best to just go along with whatever Totsuka wanted without resisting if he valued his sanity.

 And that was how Mikoto found himself, to his great displeasure, spooning together with Totsuka on his bed.

 (Try as he might, Totsuka had not managed to convince Mikoto to change into pajamas - not for lack of trying, but more because Mikoto was quite vehement about the fact that he didn't even OWN any pajamas. _And I never will_ , Mikoto thought to himself grimly as he looked down at the arms encircling his waist from behind, which were clad in a pale blue cloth with little fluffy white sheep printed all over them. Totsuka was even wearing a matching cloth nightcap topped off with a fluffy white bobble which kept falling down into his eye - Mikoto could tell because he could feel it everytime the smaller man reached up with his hand to brush the bobble out of his eye. Mikoto had to clench his fists to his sides in order to resist turning around and grabbing the nightcap off Totsuka's head and throwing it across the bedroom.)

 According to a triumphant Totsuka, now that he had discovered that the flames within himself could somehow sync with and extinguish Mikoto's flames, seemingly without any risk of harm to himself, it was a foregone conclusion (at least to Totsuka) that henceforth he would need to test out his newfound ability as much as possible in order to find out its scope and limits. For example, how long would the effects of his calming flames last? Was a single touch enough or would its effects wear off after awhile? Would he have to keep using his calming flames on Mikoto every few hours for it to be effective? What was the best way of using it on Mikoto? Would increased contact mean a stronger effect? Would prolonged contact lead to a longer lasting effect? etc. etc.

 It was precisely this line of questioning, Totsuka had explained enthusiastically to an increasingly skeptical Mikoto, that had led him to come up with a theory that maybe, just maybe, if he stuck to Mikoto long enough and close enough, just _maybe_ it would be possible for the effect of Totsuka's calming flames to somehow be transferred over to Mikoto via osmosis. And if it _did_ transfer over to Mikoto, maybe the calming effect would be permanent and maybe Mikoto might be able to gain control over his flames and prevent more incidents like the Melted Glass Incident or the Scorched Bartop Incident from happening again.

 "That's alot of 'maybes'," Mikoto remarked dryly after Totsuka had finished outlining his grandiose plan. "And now I remember why you always used to fail science in school."

"That's not fair King! I'm just more suited to more artistic pursuits that's all!" Totsuka objected.

 "Even _I_ know osmosis only works with water, how do you expect it to work with flames, just... oh never mind."

 "Oh stop worrying about tiny little details like that, King! Even if my osmosis theory doesn't work - but it might! - at least if I stick close to you all the time, I'll be near enough to calm you down if you ever flare up again! It's a win win situation either way! After all, you don't want Kusanagi-san skinning us alive if you lose control and end up ruining the bar again, do you?"

 Mikoto couldn't disagree with that. He suppressed a slight shudder as an image of Kusanagi cracking his knuckles menacingly at him popped into his head.

 "And anyway," Totsuka continued, "I'm sure you'll eventually be able to control your powers even if it takes some time, you're a King after all! And once you do, we don't have to continue with this arrangement anymore. But until that happens, I'm sticking to you like glue!"

 "When you said you would be sticking to me like glue, I didn't think you meant it quite so literally," Mikoto said dryly to the man currently clinging to his back like a limpet.

 "Oh come on King!" Totsuka protested, shifting slightly to get into a more comfortable position as he tightened his grip around Mikoto's waist. Mikoto found that he didn't quite mind the increased proximity - in fact it felt almost comfortable - but he'd be damned if he let Totsuka know what he was thinking.

 "I know you've been keeping it a secret from me and Kusanagi-san, but you've been having nightmares, haven't you? All the more reason why I should be keeping close to you even at night! I don't think Kusanagi-san would be all too pleased if you ended up burning the bar down in your sleep."

At that, Mikoto kept silent. These was really nothing he could say in response to that. Instead, he merely grunted and closed his eyes, having decided that it would be useless to argue any further with Totsuka. In any case, even if he _had_ managed to talk Totsuka out of his harebrained scheme (which, Mikoto had learnt from painful experience, was pretty much impossible), he was quite sure that Kusanagi would have demanded that they continue with the experiment anyway, seeing as how he had been the one to order Mikoto to cure his pyromaniac tendencies in the first place. Mikoto was of the firm view that Kusanagi's love for his bar had severely clouded his common sense if the bartender thought a ridiculous plan like this would work, but Mikoto also valued his life and therefore wisely concluded that it would be best not to protest any further and simply suffer in martyred silence.

 The warmth radiating off Totsuka's body was making Mikoto sleepy. He was just beginning to drift off to sleep when he heard Totsuka let out a soft giggle behind him.

 "What's so funny?" Mikoto cracked open one eye grumpily.

 "Oh nothing much... just that this somehow reminds me of the times when I slept like this with my foster father, especially after my foster mother left and dad had forgotten to pay our utilities bills so our heating was shut off. It was _freezing_ in winter, but I liked that dad would let me cuddle up against him like he was a giant hot water bottle. I really liked that feeling of being warm and safe in my dad's arms. Mikoto, you're surprisingly suited to be a father, huh," He chuckled.

Mikoto felt strangely annoyed at being compared with Totsuka's stepfather. Bending his right arm, he swiftly and viciously stabbed his elbow into Totsuka's gut.

"Ow! What was that for, King!?" Totsuka yelped, releasing his grip on Mikoto's waist and rolling over on his back while rubbing his stomach in indignation.

"... Just shut up and go to sleep." Mikoto rumbled. He would rather die than tell Totsuka the reason for his annoyance.

For once, Totsuka obeyed.

\-------------  
_The Lion eyed the Beastmaster warily as the blonde haired man opened the door of the cage and hopped in. He was holding a piece of steak in front of him as he walked towards the Lion. His stride was not haughty and proud like the men who came at the Lion with whips and chains, nor was it frightened and timid like the men who crept slowly to the sides of the cage every time the Lion so much as glanced in their direction. Instead, the man's gait was steady and sure, drawing closer to the Lion with every step in spite of the menacing rumble that spilled out from the Lion's throat._

_"Dinner time, King!'" The Beastmaster smiled at him, dangling the piece of meat merrily before the Lion's muzzle. With a quick swipe of his paw, the Lion knocked the meat from the man's grasp and began tearing chunks out of it with his razor sharp teeth._

_Suddenly, the Lion tensed as he felt a light touch on his flank. Looking up from the bloody mound of meat, he found himself being looked at once again by that steady gaze that he was beginning to find familiar - a gaze that was watchful yet unafraid, and with something else stirring within its depths that the Lion couldn't quite recognise._

_His belly growled. Keeping one eye warily on the Beastmaster, he resumed eating. The hand on his flank, which had paused when he had turned around, resumed its petting motions as well. The Lion chose to ignore it, and soon he ceased to notice it as he turned his full attention back to the steak before him and continued to feast._

_Soon, the Lion was done with his meal. Turning his head, he realised the Beastmaster had laid his own head down on the Lion's flank and was curled up beside him sleeping. The Lion shifted his hindleg experimentally. The Beastmaster continued snoring._

_Gazing at the Beastmaster's sleeping face for a long moment, the Lion finally gave a disdainful huff and turned back around. Licking his paws clean, he settled his head down on them and went to sleep._


End file.
